The USPS is hosting a pilot project with the goal of simplifying the account ID process for all federal agencies. One possible solution: allowing citizens to use their existing e-commerce accounts to access agency websites. While electronic mechanisms enable federal agencies to provide some online government services, the process "creates a burden to the citizen to manage a username and password for each agency application they need to access -- as well as a costly burden on each agency to issue and manage these usernames and passwords," the agency said.

USPS is the worst possible agency you could ask to manage a project like this. First of all, their website is horrendous, with the user required to dig several levels deep to find information that should be readily accessible. Second, after all these years they still do not support Mac OS, only PC's, so that a large segment of their potential customer base cannot perform a number of basic tasks electronically but must still endure the torture of standing on line at retail postoffices. (Apparently that is USPS's idea of online services.) This agency truly has a death wish, and whatever it might come up with in terms of a universal sign-in is not going to reverse the death spiral.